David Kuckhermann

David Kuckhermann started playing music at the age of nine and studied world percussion at the Conservatory of Rotterdam. The focus of his attention has long lingered on finger drums from the Middle East. He has worked with Dead Can Dance and the medieval music ensemble "Cordatum" and regularly tours with Omar Faruk Tekbilek. Recently he released the first two parts of a series of instructional DVDs.

Frame Drums
Frame drums are among the oldest percussion instruments in the world. The first picture of a frame drum was found in Anatolia and dates back to earlier than 5000 BC. Nowadays frame drums are played mostly in the Middle East, but can also be found in other countries. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are played with the hands, others, such as the Irish bodhran, with beaters. Frame drums that have jingles in the frame belong to the sub-family of tambourines.

Tonbak
This goblet-shaped drum is the main accompanying percussion instrument in Iranian art music. It has the shape of a wine glass. Very characteristic for the sound is the riz-e-por technique. This roll is produced with the fingers of both hands. The playing style of this instrument became more rich and expressive by the work of great tonbak masters in the last century, especially Ostad Hossain Tehrani whom man consider the father of modern tonbak playing.

Riq
This tambourine is the main percussion instrument in classical Egyptian music and forms part of a typical Middle Eastern percussion section. It has 10 pairs of jingles in 2 rows around the frame. The membrane is usually made of fish-skin, but various kinds of animal and synthetic skin are also used. The riq is played by using a highly elaborate technique which involves the fingers hitting both the skin and the jingles.